Safety in Numbers.

I have been wearing a kuffiyeh or a free Palestine scarf since the early days of 2024, back when they were hard to find. What makes me angry is that I am still one of the only ones that does so in my area.

Because there is safety in numbers and by declining to join in, the people around me, who do believe in Palestinian humanity and liberation, are not only choosing to try and keep themselves safe by keeping their heads down, which is insanely futile, they are also leaving me abandoned and vulnerable.

And that used to be the case everywhere in every industry. But the numbers have flipped. Because of the actions of first Macklemore¹ and then Kneecap² and then Bob Vylan³, it is now safer in the music industry to speak up for Palestine than not. Because of the actions of Johnathon Glazer⁴ and Rachel Zegler[^5], Javier Barden and Hannah Einbinder[^6] were able to do the same in the film and TV industry. And that is all built on the actions of thousands and thousands of Palestinians activists, academics, artists, and journalists who have been keeping the fight for Palestinian freedom alive for decades, and many like Islam Miqdad and Anas Al-Sharif, paying the ultimate price for it.

And this leads me to the ships, First the Madleen sailed, then the Hanadala, and now more than 40 boats from the Global Sumud Flotilla took matters into civilian hands and managed to break the blockade and get into Palestinian waters.

This is how safety in numbers grows. But it has to be demonstrated. For the next flotilla to get even further, and for the horrific siege and genocide of Palestine to be broken through numbers, we have to come out.

Thousands upon thousands have come out already spontaneously to demand the release of the flotilla members, more flotillas are sailing as we speak, more are being planned. Each and every country whose citizens Israel has kidnapped in international or Palestinian waters to enforce an illegal siege needs to make clear that this will not stand. And if the governments of the country will not do it, the people must.

Kuffiyehs were hard to find back in 2023, they are not now. Hundreds of thousands are coming out. Be a part of it because make no mistake, the only way back to a sane normal is by achieving justice and liberation for Palestine.

Sources on my blog, all opinions my own, in the end only God knows best. Free Palestine From the River to the Sea.

Sources still compiling.